THE MASS APPEAL OF 'SPORT SCIENCE'.

Byline: TOM HOFFARTH

MEDIA

A herd of nuclear pointexters can combine any of Newton's three laws of motion with a Nielsen survey meter, and you still wouldn't be able to measure the impact that the new Fox Sports Net series, "Sport Science," will eventually generate throughout the TV universe.

It's going to take something along the lines of the high-tech gadget that demonstrates how someone performing a bicycle kick in soccer is generating as much speed as a helicopter propeller at the point of impact.

Or the 3D animation that illustrates Cincinnati Bengals receiver Chad Johnson's ability, from a standing-still position, to catch a pass within a range of 2,786 cubic feet - or the area inside a two-car garage.

Or the special sensors initially created by NASA that now prove former UCLA star Jason Kapono can do something that the NBA rulebook insists is impossible.

From a makeshift lab created in an Hawthorne airport hanger this summer, these and other basic elements of sports were given the Einstein beatdown to demonstrate how the laws of physics really can be pushed to the limit by the best athletes in the world.

"All sports fans, whether they just watch it on TV or actually play it, know that the foundation of sports is science, founded on physics," says John Brenkus, the co-creator and co-executive producer with Mickey Stern on the 13-episode series that launches on FSN West on Sunday at 9 p.m.

"We're just trying to tap into the foundation of the games we play."

Brenkus actually became a human lab rat for many of these experiments as the sports version of Bill Nye, The Science Guy.

He stood in the lane of a basketball court as streetballer Chris "Skywalker' Lowery showed how much a 50-inch vertical leap means when you're going up against a 5-foot-8 defender -- he'll literally vault right over you, as he did with Brenkus, generating what was measured as 1,400 pounds of force from his legs.

In an experiment to see how extreme cold weather conditions affect the pressure in an inflated ball (the PSI, or pounds per square inch), Brenkus quickly understood the gravity of that situation when he tried to kick a soccer ball filled with liquid nitrogen.

"I really hurt my foot," Brenkus said. "I don't think anything was broken. But the ball was like a lead weight. We thought it could shatter. It didn't go anywhere. We took a sledge hammer to it and only were able to dent it."

The episode that should have mass appeal for NBA fans is how Kapono, who this summer left the Miami Heat and signed with the Toronto Raptors, and Lakers guard Jordan Farmar combined to prove that you actually can get a shot off in under three-tenths of a second, although the league rules won't allow it (remember, there was fourth-tenths of a second left when the Lakers' Derek Fisher hit his game-winner against San Antonio in the 2004 Western Conference finals).

In this "Sport Science" experiment, Farmar inbounded the ball to the NBA's reigning 3-point shooting champ, who had sensors on his right hand as he caught and launched it -- in .23 seconds. And he even made the shot. It was all captured on super slo-mo cameras.

"It makes everyone think: Is that rule legit?" says Brenkus. "Kapono said he wants the rule changed now, and he said they can call it 'The Kapono Rule."'

"Sport Science" is actually an offshoot of a two-hour special called "Fight Science" that Brenkus and Stern did for the Fox-owned National Geographic Channel to show how physics worked with the martial arts. They recycled for FSN's sports viewers last summer, and the reaction was nuclear.

"I loved the look of 'Fight Science' -- the animation, the graphics and the way the show presented information was stunning," said David Leepson, FSN's VP of development. "I knew if we opened up the concept to cover the entire realm of sports, we'd be able to explain sports in a context unlike anything else ever seen before on television."

The most important discovery that Brenkus made: There are no boundaries for doing weird science stuff, and the world-class athletes who submit themselves to testing are very willing participants. About 90 athletes volunteered during three months of shooting, including Matt Leinart, Luc Robitaille, Jennie Finch, Joey Porter, Ben Roethlisburger, Jerry Rice and Corey Maggette and Cuttino Mobley.

"The limits of the show are only limited by our imagination," Brenkus said. "That's what's most rewarding.

"There's no dumbing down anything here. We have real data that we make relatable. Sports fans are hungry for stats and images they can't get anywhere else. As a producer, I'm always learning new things. If I'm interested, I'm guessing there are millions more who want to know about this."

Herbie rides again for Disney

Because he commutes on a Disney-provided private jet, Kirk Herbstreit's frequent-flyer miles every Saturday during college football season for ESPN and ABC don't translate into valuable prizes. If they did, he'd probably earn a round-tripper to Pluto every Christmas.

For this Saturday's long journey into Visine, Herbstreit will get up at 3 a.m. in Eugene, Ore., take part in ESPN "College GameDay" show from 7 to 9 a.m. at the University of Oregon campus, do a meet-and-greet with sponsors and then zip a couple hours north to Seattle to be the analyst on the 5 p.m. USC-Washington telecast for ABC. By about 10 p.m., he'll be back on a direct flight home to Columbus, Ohio, to see his wife and four sons -- a 7-year-old set of twins, plus a 4(bul)-year-old and a 13-month old.

"I give ESPN credit for all it has to do to get me from Point A to Point B each week," said Herbstreit this week. "I knew going in this job would demand more travel on a tighter schedule, there's be some wear and tear on flying all over. Maybe I'm just a glutton for this."

It's a schedule that fear-of-flying maven John Madden wouldn't survive after the first week. There was some fear that Herbstreit wouldn't either after a weary opening weekend.

The Sept. 1 "GameDay" emanated from Blacksburg, Va. Herbstreit used a police escort to fly out of Roanoke, Va., go five hours cross country to Oakland and arrive in Berkeley an hour before the 5 p.m. kickoff to do the Tennessee-Cal game with Brent Musburger. That's with picking up three hours in the time-zone change.After two stay-in-place weeks, it was an afternoon hop from Tuscaloosa, Ala., to Madison, Wis., last week for the Iowa-Wisconsin regional telecast.

Herbstreit can't brace himself ahead of time for these business-class excursions, because the producers of "GameDay" don't know their site location until slightly more than a week ahead of time. Adding to the workload is his agreeing to co-host Mike Tirico ESPN Radio show.

"By Saturday, I'm pretty locked in with game preparation for that night so there's not a lot of prep time needed between (the morning show and evening game)," he said. "But by the time Sunday comes, I'm a zombie until about Tuesday, thinking about the next assignment. I know this is just a 3 1/2-month sprint for me. When the dust settles I might say, 'Holy cow, look at what I did.' But now I love it."

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Photo:

Former NFL star Jerry Rice, right, has his performance in an experiment for the FSN show "Sport Science" explained to him by pressure sensor technician David Ables, center, and Cindy Bir, left, a professor in biomechanics at Wayne State University.

Michael Becker/FSN

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